Rotary fork

ABSTRACT

A rotary fork for roasting wieners, marshmallows and the like including a cylindrical barrel adapted to rest upon a suitable support, tubes at the front of the barrel telescopably housing tines, cables connected to the tubes, a gearing system at the rear of the barrel coupled to the cables, and a handle element to operate the gearing system to twist the cables and thereby rotate the tubes without rotating the barrel and without affecting the telescopability of the tines.

United States Patent 1191 Cogswell 1 July 3, 1973 [54] ROTARY FORK v2,974,993 3/1961 Duniven 99/421 A X 3,552,017 1 1971 muts 0 32 [76]invent: James Y 326 10th 3,589,009 15/1971 l vliscavich et al 30/322Seal Beach, Calif. 90740 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [22] May 1972135,321 11/1949 Australia 99/421 A [21] Appl. No.: 249,845

Primary Examiner-Wayne A. Morse, Jr. 52 us. 01. 99/421 A, 30/322Hendersm 511 int. c1..... A47j 37/04, A47j 43/18, A47j 43/28 Atomeyq-MCI-611a [58] Field of Search 99/419, 420, 421 A;

30/322, 323 ABSTRACT A rotary fork for roasting wieners, marshmallowsand References Cited the like including a cylindrical barrel adapted torest UNITED STATES PATENTS upon a suitable support, tubes at the frontof the barrel 0171,539 2 1954 Goodsel] 99 421 A x telescopably housingtines, cables Connected to the 2 315 3 3 1943 Thompson 99 421 A tubes,21 gearing system at the rear of the barrel coupled 2,558,365 6/ 1951Lehnus 99/421 A to the cables, and a handle element to operate the gear-2,619,896 12/1952 Ross 99/421 A ing system to twist the cables andthereby rotate the 2,629,313 2/1953 Norville, .ll'. 62 al 99/421 A tubeswithout rotating the barrel and without affecting 2,710,449 6/1955 Crino30/322 the telescopability of the tines 2,827,848 3/1958 Alden 99/42] A2,841,869 7/1958 Levine 30/322 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures ROTARY FORKBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to a rotary fork and more particularly to a rotaryfork in which the tines are both rotatable and retractable.

2. Description of the Prior Art Small children have particulardifficulty in holding usual roasting forks steady and at the properdistance from the heat source so that the foodstuffs, such as wieners,marshmallows, or the like, are evenly and uniformly cooked or roasted.Instead, the small child will allow the wiener to dip into the tire andburn. If he attempts to rest the roasting fork upon some stationarysupport, such as a log, rock, or the like, turning of the roasting forkwill cause the fork to move off the support, with the foodstuffs againfalling into the fire. Another problem with the usual roasting fork isthat small children playfully or unintentionally poke the end of thefork at their playmates, and sometimes cause serious injuries.

SUMMARY According to the present invention, a rotary roasting fork isprovided which includes an elongated outerportion or barrel that can berested upon a support adjacent the fire, with the barrel provided at itsforward end with a mount rotatably carrying a plurality of tubes. Thesetubes each telescopably mount a tine, and the inner ends of the tubesare coupled to a corresponding plurality of cables which extendrearwardly within the barrel for passage through a rear mount at therearward end of the barrel, and for coupling to a handle element whichis rotatable upon the rearward extremity of the barrel. The couplingmeans between the cables and the handle element preferably take the formof cooperating gears so that when the handle element is rotated relativeto the barrel the tines will be rotated. With this arrangement a childcan press the barrel upon a rock or the like next to the tire, hold thebarrel with one hand, and rotate the handle element with the other handto thereby rotate the tines and uniformly cook the foodstuffs withouthaving to be concerned about the fork inadvertently dipping into thetire. Moreover, the telescopable mounting of the tines within the tubesautomatically provides for retraction of the tines within the tubeswhenever the ends of the tines are playfully or inadvertently pressedagainst another person. The structure of the tubes and tines preferablyincludes resilient elements which only offer sufficient frictionalconstraint to prevent the tines from sliding loosely in and out of thetubes.

Almost all of the mechanism for rotating the tubes, other than thesingle handle element, are concealed and protected within the barrel.Consequently, nothing is exposed to entangle or soil clothing or thelike, nor to provide a danger for the small child.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent fromconsideration of the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of arotary roasting fork according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal cross sectional view of the fork ofFIG. 1, the central portion of the fork being cut away for conservationof drawing space;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross sectional view of one of thetines mounted in its tube, portions of these elements also being cutaway for conservation of drawing space;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings,there is illustrated a rotary roasting fork 10 which comprises,generally, an elongated cylindrical barrel 12; a forward or front mount14 carried at the forward extremity of the barrel 12; a pair ofelongated tubes 16 projecting from and rotatably carried by the mount14; a pair of tines 18 axially telescopably disposed within theprojecting from the pair of tubes 16, respectively; a pair of connectingmeans in the form of cables 20 coupled to the tubes 16 and extendingrearwardly within the barrel 12; a rear mount 22 carried at the rearwardextremity of the barrel 12 an including a pair of-openings through whichthe rearward extremities of the cables 20 extend; a handle element orknob 26 rotatable upon the rearward extremity of the barrel 12; and acoupling assembly generally designated by the numeral 28 locatedadjacent the rearward extremity of the barrel 12 and coupling the cables20 to the knob 26 in order to effect rotation of the tines 18 uponrotation of the knob 26.

The barrel 12 is outwardly flared at its forward extremity, and thefront mount 14 is frusto-conical in configuration to closely fit withinthis flared extremity. The mount 14 is press fitted within the barrel tosecurely hold it in position. The particular configuration of the mount14 allows the tubes 16 to be arranged with their longitudinal axesextending outwardly in divergent relation to the longitudinal axis ofthe barrel 12, thereby spacing the outer ends of the tines 18 fartherapart to provide room for foodstuffs on each of the tines 18.

The tubes 16 are rotatable within complemental bores 38 provided in themount 14, as best viewed in FIG. 6. A pair of bushings 32 are pressedupon or swaged onto the forward ends of the cables 20, and are alsoforcibly pressed into the rearward bends of the tubes 16 so thatrotation of the cables will, rotate the tubes 16 within the bores 30.

Rotation of the tubes 16 is imparted to the tines 18 by means of threeresilient members in the form of three elongated snubbers 34 disposed inuniformly spaced relation about the outer surface of each tine 18. Theends of the elongated snubbers 34 are welded or soldered to theassociated tine 18, and each snubber includes a central, outwardly bowedsection which resiliently bears against the adjacent inner wall of theassociated tube 16. The frictional engagement between the snubbers 34and the tubes 16 is sufficient to cause rotation of the tines 18 withthe tubes 16, and is also sufficient to prevent the tines 18 fromloosely sliding in and out of the tubes 16. However, the constraintagainst relative axial movement is not so great that the tines 18 arenot retractable when the outer or forward ends of the tines 18 arepressed against something. Consequently, if the child using the fork 10playfully or inadvertently presses the outer ends of the tines 18against a playmate, the tines 18 will retract inwardly to the positionsillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 6. Preferably the outer ends of the tines 18are somewhat rounded to further reduce possible injury in suchsituations.

If desired, a screw 36 may be threaded into a central bore in the innerend of the front mount 14 for engagement of the head of the screw 36with the flanged ends of the bushings 32 to insure that the bushings 32will remain in position.

The rearward extremity of the barrel 12 preferably mounts an elongatedmain handle 38 made of resilient material or the like and providing aconvenient grip for holding the fork when the knob 26 is being rotated.The main handle 38 closely grips the barrel l2 and abuts the knob 26 toprevent the knob from being pushed forwardly on the handle and out ofdesired position.

The coupling assembly 28 includes a pair of gears 40 which includecentral openings receiving the rearward extremity of the pair of cables20. A pair of suitable retainer elements 42 are swaged onto the ends ofthe cables and are forcibly press fitted within the openings in thegears 40 so that when the gears are rotated the cables will also rotate.In addition, a pair of bushings 44 are swaged onto the cables 20inwardly of the gears 40 and the shank portion of these bushings 44 arerotatably received within the openings 24 in the rear mount 22. Thebushings 44 include flanged ends adjacent the gears 40 and bearingagainst the outer face of the rear mount 22 to constrain the gears 40against inward movement out of position relative to an internallytoothed ring gear 46.

The ring gear 46 is press fitted within a central countersunkcylindrical cavity 48 provided in the rear portion of the knob 26, theside of the ring gear 46 resting against a rear or end flange 50 oftherear mount 22, the flange 50 in turn resting upon the shoulder formed bythe difference in diameter between the larger and smaller counter-sunkportions of the cavity 48.

The rearward open end of the cavity 48 is closed by a circular disk 52which is press fitted within the cavity to conceal and protect thecontents of the cavity.

In operation, the barrel 12 of the fork 10 can be rested upon a support(not shown) adjacent the fire to easily and conveniently space the tinesl8 and foodstuffs thereon an appropriate distance from the fire. Theuser then grasps the main handle 38 with one hand and rotates the knob26 with the other hand to rotate the ring gear 46 and effectsimultaneous rotation of the gears 40 attached to the cables 20. Theturning of the gears 40 imparts a twisting to the cables 20, which inturn rotates the tubes 16 within the bores 30. Thus, ro-

tation of the tines 18 is provided without accompanying movement of thebarrel l2, and without affecting the capability of the tines 18 toretract within the tubes 16. Extension of the retracted tines 18 iseasily accomplished by merely grasping the protruding outer end of eachtine and pulling it outwardly to its full extension, the outer end ofeach tube 16 being inwardly formed to engage the snubbers 34 and therebyprevent the tines 18 from completely passing out of the tubes 16.

Various modifications and changes may be made with regard to theforegoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A rotary roasting fork comprising:

an elongated barrel;

a front mount carried at the forward extremity of said barrel;

a plurality of tubes projecting from and rotatably carried by said frontmount;

a plurality of tines axially telescopably disposed within and projectingfrom said plurality of tubes, respectively;

a plurality of cables coupled to said tubes'and extending rearwardlywithin said barrel;

a rear mount carried at the rearward extremity of said barrel andincluding openings receiving the rearward extremities of said cables;

a handle element rotatable upon the rearward extremity of said barrel;and

coupling means on said rearward extremities of said cables and on saidhandle element cooperative to rotate said cables upon rotation of saidhandle element, and means between said tines and tubes whereby saidtines are rotatable and whereby said tines are retractable at all times.

2. A rotary roasting fork according to claim 1 wherein resilient meansare disposed between said tines and the inner walls of said tubes todevelop slight frictional constraint therebetween tending to preventsaid apart.

1. A rotary roasting fork comprising: an elongated barrel; a front mountcarried at the forward extremity of said barrel; a plurality of tubesprojecting from and rotatably carried by said front mount; a pluralityof tines axially telescopably disposed within and projecting from saidplurality of tubes, respectively; a plurality of cables coupled to saidtubes and extending rearwardly within said barrel; a rear mount carriedat the rearward extremity of said barrel and including openingsreceiving the rearward extremities of said cables; a handle elementrotatable upon the rearward extremity of said barrel; and coupling meanson said rearward extremities of said cables and on said haNdle elementcooperative to rotate said cables upon rotation of said handle element,and means between said tines and tubes whereby said tines are rotatableand whereby said tines are retractable at all times.
 2. A rotaryroasting fork according to claim 1 wherein resilient means are disposedbetween said tines and the inner walls of said tubes to develop slightfrictional constraint therebetween tending to prevent said tines frommoving loosely within said tubes.
 3. A rotary roasting fork according toclaim 1 wherein said coupling means comprise an annular gear elementcarried by said handle element, and a plurality of gears mounted to saidrearward extremities of said cables and meshed with said gear element.4. A rotary roasting fork according to claim 1 wherein said plurality oftubes are arranged with their longitudinal axes extending outwardly indivergent relation to the longitudinal axis of said barrel whereby theouter extremities of said tines are generously spaced apart.